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Thursday, June 11, 2015

I'm joining my friend Annie at A Stitch In Time for the 123rd running of Friday Smiles. A few of my US friends who read or follow my blog may be aware of the final leg of the Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes, was run last weekend. The races for three year old thoroughbreds include the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness, and as mentioned, the Belmont Stakes. If a horse wins all three, they win the Triple Crown, considered a thoroughbred racehorse's greatest accomplishment. One such horse won last week and was crowned for the first time since 1978.

My British friends have their own Triple Crown. It consists of 2000 Guineas Stakes, the Epsom Derby, and the St. Leger Stakes. Their Triple Crown dates back farther than ours in the US. Ireland, Germany, Sweden, Spain, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Australia and other countries also have their Triple Crowns and specific tracks on which they are run.

Now I'm not really a race horse fan, basketball being my sport of choice. I didn't even watch the race last weekend. My reason for mentioning this is, on Wednesday, Squiggles and Bleubeard had their own race. I didn't see how it started, but they ran from the living/dining area, through the kitchen, up the stairs to the office, and back down again. By the time I realized what was going on, I only managed to capture two photos and they were both gray blurs. They must have kept this up at least six cycles, with Squiggles winning several times and Bleubeard winning several times. Squiggles always beat Bleubeard on the way down the stairs, because he would leap at least three steps. Bleubeard could run up the stairs faster than Squiggles, especially if he was in the lead. What finally stopped them was when Squiggles, who was several lengths (or paws) ahead, stopped to examine his food dish! That gave Bleubeard the much needed time to rest. I swear, when I wasn't trying to get a photo of them, I was laughing so hard, my sides were aching.

Because I had no decent photos of the race, I decided to take a few photos of my herb garden.

All photos were taken early Thursday morning before I went to bed. Imagine my surprise and shock when I removed these photos from my camera. I need to nail down more studs so I can lay down more fodder for my garden. Grass seems to have worked its way through all those layers, so I need to build them up at the edges again.

Even though we had lots of rain, many of my basil plants have failed to grow. My dill seems to be doing well, though,

as does my curly parsley. Can't say the same for my flat parsley I planted in the large white container behind the curly parsley.

I'm thrilled I haven't killed my lavender, and because this is the second year of its growth, I am now getting a few flowers. Of course, I also need to replace the materials I originally used under the tiles. They are a MESS. That's what happens when you can't garden for weeks on end due to excessive rain.

I hope you enjoyed my tale (tail?) of Bleubeard and Squiggles, and saw how sad my herb garden is, even as it put a smile on my face from the harvest I hope to have on Saturday.

Now let's join Annie for Friday Smiles and grin (or even laugh) all the way through the weekend.

18
thoughtful remarks:

Hi Elizabeth. I'd have loved to be a fly on the wall during the cat race...it made me chuckle just reading your tale. Our little furbabies do give us a lot to smile about don't they? :-)Your herb garden is looking better than ours...we have only planted mint and rosemary so far [the mint for the new potatoes and the rosemary for cooking with fish]. What will you do with all yours?Have a great week my friend [and the furbabies of course].Hugs,Annie x

Yep...I'm back to say just how seriously impressed I am of your knowledge of what to do with your herbs.....I have the book but that's as far as I've got :-) Thanks so much for popping back to me and sharing it with me.Hugs,Annie x

I can imagine the race so well as my lot used to do that now and then and it was so funny. Miss them!You have a good range of herbs but the look to be slow growing. I have a herb bed that I love and use well. Sage, Chives, Angelica, Parsley, Mint (in a tub), rosemary, Lavender(by the front door) amongst others.Do you make mint sauce to serve with lamb as we British do traditionally?Jo x

Ah yes, the great fur ball race! Have one every other day here. :) The Girls will be lounging and one looks at the other the wrong way and ...they're off n running. Sadly they don't have stairs to run up. They become acrobats by jumping over each other at the turns in the bedroom and studio. Or crashing into the front door. te he Have a wonderful weekend, E. Hugs n smooches to the boys from the Girls. Hugs from me too.

Your tail of Squiggles and Bleubeard made me giggle. At around 1030 most nights Dobby used to do something similar on his own running through the lounge, jumping up on his chair, back down, through the lounge, dining room and into the porch, up on the settee and all back again for about 10-20 minutes. He is not well enough to do it now, which is sad. Your herb garden is looking good. I like to grow my own herbs, but often have trouble with flat parsley and basil, so I tend to buy them as plants rather than grow from seeds, though I did buy some seeds the other day.Happy weekend. Hugsxx

So wish I had been there to see Bleubeard and Squiggles race - it sounds like fun :) It doesn't happen too often but just once in a while Bonnie takes off on a run ... that's when I say she is having a mad moment! Your herb garden is looking productive. My herbs are scattered throughout the garden, some are in pots but most are growing in the borders. And you would love our lavender - we have lots of it in bud and when I brush past it the perfume is to die for :) Have a great weekend. Elizabeth & Bonnie xx

Hi Elizabeth, happy weekend smiles...'cause I'm late but like you I've been inspecting and sorting my garden. We're off home tomorrow so looking forward to some 'normal' weeks. Your cats sound a bit like ours who do have races but sometimes at 5 in the morning...then they don't make me laugh. Cheers and hugs Robyn

Your herbs looks great! Bummer about the basil. Most of my beans failed to come up this year. So frustrating!! I'm thinking about buying a new pack of seeds tomorrow and planting more...I'll just have two crops of beans...right?!?

The cat race sounds entertaining and I can relate as our 3 will play that game at times. The herbs look good. I think it's been too cool and wt for the basil this year..mine is not doing well either. Except the purple basil that reseeded itself all over the yard last year. At least it smells good when the grass is mowed :)

The cat race sounds entertaining and I can relate as our 3 will play that game at times. The herbs look good. I think it's been too cool and wt for the basil this year..mine is not doing well either. Except the purple basil that reseeded itself all over the yard last year. At least it smells good when the grass is mowed :)

Bleubeard and I welcome you

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